Social Validity Assessment of Physical Restraint Intervention by Care Providers of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Social Validity of Pivotal Response Treatment for Young Autistic Children: Perspectives of Autistic Adults

The social validity of autism behavioral intervention has been questioned. Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) attempt to address some concerns, but it is unclear whether autistic people consider NDBIs socially valid. Social validity of an NDBI, Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), was investigated through autistic adults commenting on videos of autistic children receiving PRT. Qualitative coding of responses generated three themes: respect for individuals; assessment of intervention implementation; and socioemotional considerations. Although video brevity limits the scope of the present study's conclusions, participants highlighted PRT components that appeared socially valid (e.g., reinforcing attempts, following the child's lead) and aspects appearing invalid (e.g., overemphasis on spoken language). Therefore, adjustments appear necessary for PRT to be fully acceptable to the autistic community.

The Best and Worst Things Staff Report About Behavioral Training Workshops: a Large-Scale Evaluation

A variable affecting the success of staff training programs conducted by behavior analysts is trainee acceptance of the training. This study constituted a large-scale evaluation of staff acceptance of behavioral training workshops. Over a 10-year period, 646 human service staff who participated in 132 workshops were questioned regarding the best and worst thing about the workshops. The most common staff comments concerning the best thing pertained to the training content, followed closely by trainer style and then trainee activities. There were far fewer comments regarding the worst thing, with most involving aspects of the physical environment in which training occurred. Implications of the results for practitioners are offered in terms of conducting workshop training in accordance with trainees' reported preferences. Emphasis is placed on ensuring training content is specific in nature as well as new and relevant for the trainees' work situation, providing frequent demonstrations and examples, and structuring repeated opportunities for active trainee responding.